Android phone carries about $144 BOM cost

According to an analysis conducted by market research firm iSuppli Corp., the first wireless handset based on Google Inc.'s Androidmobile operating system carries a bill-of-materials (BOM) cost of Rs.7,199.74 ($143.89).

The T-Mobile G1 smart phone, manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp., was officially released on Oct. 22. The phone retails for Rs.8,956.51 ($179).

The most costly component of the G1 is the base band, at Rs.1,425.54 ($28.49), or 19.8 per cent of the G1's total BOM, according to iSuppli. The base band employs a combination of an ARM11 microprocessor for multimedia applications and an ARM7 core for modem functions, iSuppli said, similar to other recent handsets the firm has examined.

The base band and applications processor on board the G1 is Qualcomm Inc.'s MSM7201A, according to a recent teardown analysis conducted by Portelligent.

Click to view full image

The next most costly section of the G1 is the display, at Rs.984.22 ($19.67), or 13.7 per cent of the BOM. The G1's display is a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with HVGA resolution, at 320 by 480 pixels. The camera represents the next most expensive segment, at Rs.606.94 ($12.13), or 8.4 per cent of total BOM costs, iSuppli said.

The camera is composed of a 3.2-MP CMOS image processor from Aptina Imaging and a flip-chip lens coil driver from Analog Devices Inc. (AD5398), according to Portelligent's teardown.

The Rs.7,199.74 ($143.89) BOM estimate includes only the component and material costs for the G1, and doesn't account for other expenses including software, research and development, manufacturing and accessories, iSuppli said.

While it has not yet conducted its own physical teardown of the G1, iSuppli said it determined the Rs.7,199.74 ($143.89) BOM based on information from its mobile handset cost model, which provides analysis of present and future expenses to build mobile phones with any possible feature set.